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DIY Projects Use this forum to post threads related to home made projects for your corns... Vivariums, hides, decorations, accessories, you name it. Anything to save some bucks or give your personalized touch.

KC's DIY'd Vivarium.
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Old 07-29-2013, 03:05 PM   #31
cagedbirdsinging
Christi, you definitely need to go for it! It's a blast to work on these little projects! I'll be putting more pictures up soon, but I can do a run-down for you!

First, the clay I used was Crayola brand air-dry clay. This can usually be found at Walmart and doesn't need a special trip to a craft store. Make sure it's just air-dry clay and not their "Model Magic" product. It is non-toxic. The trick is to not make anything too thin. Thicker pieces obviously take longer to dry out, but I don't regret waiting two weeks for my cave to dry out! It's very sturdy. The surface ended up being a bit slick, so if you want to just paint the outside, it needs to be lightly sanded so that the paint will stick. Instead, I just decoupaged Eco Earth on it and sealed it in.

The sealant (for everything!) is Mod Podge. You can get it in several different finishes. It's just a non-toxic sealer. It isn't water tight, but it is water resistant. You don't want to make a water dish with it, I don't think!

For the background, you just get styrofoam sheets from a home improvement store. It's in the insulation section. While you're there, you pick up a bag or box of unsanded grout. I bought a can of "grout sealant" as well, but I highly doubt it's necessary. I guess I just wanted another layer between the grout and the paint job.

The paint I used is just plain acrylic paint from the craft store (or craft section of Walmart) which is non-toxic as well. Then, sealed up with a few coats of matte Mod Podge! The matte finish Mod Podge is still a bit shiny, but much less so than their gloss. I still haven't decided if I am going to do another coat of that and sprinkle sand on it before it dries like some of the online tutorials suggest. Apparently that takes shine off.

Just go for it! It's fun to play around with clay, rip foam up, make a mess, etc! It really helps put a personal touch on your vivarium if you have tanks rather than tub set-ups.

I hope that I answered your questions! If not, ask anything! Anyone can do this, really. It doesn't take much money, time, or skill. Easy-peasy.
 
Old 07-29-2013, 03:11 PM   #32
Christichicc
Thanks so much!! You def answered all my questions and I really appreciate it! I really want to try this now. I think I'll do the clay first and see how that works and go from there! Sounds like a lot of fun and will be really cool to have special stuff I made for my guys We've used the excavator clay zoo med makes before (well my bf did lol) in one of our beardie tanks and in the leopard gecko's tank, so maybe we can incorporate some of that in too
 
Old 07-29-2013, 03:24 PM   #33
cagedbirdsinging
I'm really glad that you are giving it a go! The clay is very easy to work with and behaves a lot like regular potter's clay and you can use the exact same techniques to do pretty much whatever you want. As long as you don't make anything too elaborate and no thinner than 1/4", it's really great stuff. I also let it sit way longer than the directions on the tub, obviously, but that's mainly because my cave walls are maybe closer to 1/2".

I read a lot of reviews on the clay before I bought it (even though it isn't expensive at all) and some of them were really negative, saying that it breaks so easily, cracks, etc. They usually follow that up with stating that they were trying to make a pendant for a necklace or something like that! Well, duh!
 
Old 07-30-2013, 01:13 PM   #34
cagedbirdsinging
Now that the hide is done and just needs a bit more time to "cure" (It's already dry to the touch, but I just want to be sure that it's nice and hard throughout since the coats of sealer were thick!), I snapped a few pictures with my cell phone.

For reference, here is that first picture again when I coated the clay with Eco Earth:



Then, another coat of sealer (Mod Podge) leaves it looking like this:



As it dries, the coat gets clear and less shiny. Even after it is dry to the touch, this continues to happen as that thick layer cures throughout. This is honestly best done outside as long as it is warm and isn't raining or extremely humid. It really speeds the process up.





I have a close-up of what this whole process does in terms of the "finish" that you'll get. I think it's kinda cool!




After it cures for another day or so and I get it installed, I'll end up "dusting" it over with some fresh Eco Earth so that it becomes more of a burrow like I designed rather than just a hide. As neat as the final texture is, I really only did that to make it water resistant for easier cleaning and to help it blend in better as substrate shifts and whatnot.

Rest assured that there will be more pictures once it's installed! As everything gets put together, I'll get my "real" camera out so that we can be done with these crappy cell phone pictures!
 

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